To Do's Done!

I love checking off a to-do list! We have accomplished so many things that aren't even on the list, but here are the big things:

• Install Electric Outlet for Fridge Done!
• Clean Basement Carpet Done!
• Clean Basement Bathroom Done!
• Find Out Why Back Door is Leaking and Repair Hiring this one out!
• Polyurethane Dining Room Ceiling, Walls, and Floor Waiting on the above to be done.
• Pick Up Furniture from Clarkesville and Move It In Done!
• Meet Lowe's Appliance Installers Done!
• Pressure Wash Driveway (Old Part) Half-done. Pressure washer broke. :(
• Pressure Wash Porch Same as above. :(
• Buy Towels, Sheets, and Pillows Done!
• Repair Outside Back Faucet Better, but still leaking a bit...
• Find a Way to Get Our Cell Phones To Work!! (Maybe Transfer Service to Verizon) Done!

There are several new things to add. So here's the new to-do list:

• Meet the guy who will be building a retaining wall, and get an estimate for the total cost.
• Get a gutter guy, and have gutters repaired.
• Have the threshold repaired.
• Polyurethane the Dining Room ceiling, walls, and floor.
• Polyurethane the Temporary Master bump-out.
• Hang curtain panels in the Temporary Master.
• Polyurethane the ironing board cabinet.
• Find a shelf for the Basement Bathroom, and hang it for towel storage.
• Take chest, sofa, end tables, rugs, TVs, and lamps up. Possibly rent a truck next week.
• Measure Master Bedroom and write it all out on graft paper.
• Take Master Bedroom measurements to Lowe's so we can choose our cabinet and fixtures.
• Buy a Towel Storage Cabinet for the main floor bathroom.
• Paint my Granny's bed.
• Decide on light control for the Loft Bedroom. Shades? Or new panels that are room darkening?
• Make curtain for Basement Bedroom.
• Install window (or at least glass) for privacy in Loft Bedroom.
• Check bait stations, and add bait if necessary. Don't want another Mouse War!!

Father's Day

Father's Day. A day to celebrate the dads who do so much for us, with their hard work, love, and continuing help, whether it be a kind word of advice, or swinging a hammer to help you fix something that broke. What would we do without our dads? God bless them!

We celebrated by having our oldest son and daughter-in-law and our youngest son and his girlfriend up to the cabin for the weekend. We are finally fully functional! Yippee! It was quite an ordeal to get the appliances in. Hubby had to call and yell at the people to get someone out and finish the job...it took 2 weeks to get it done. We also had a whole house filter installed for the well (no more mud baths!), and also got the mattresses in. So~~we have 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms that work, as well as all appliances, and clean water. It's so exciting! I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing this cabin come back to life!

Kitchen with ALL the appliances!!

Temporary Master.
 (We will soon start on the half finished one.)

Loft Bedroom

Basement Bedroom

On Sunday afternoon, we all went to Falls Branch Falls. The weather was lovely, and the cool mountain air a delight.

Falls Creek

Falls Branch Falls

Rhododendron blooming along the trail

Purple Coneflower

For Father's Day, our sons took us out to Harvest On Main, a wonderful restaurant in downtown Blue Ridge. It was very yummy. The grounds are planted with herbs and flowers. Quite a nice effect, don't you think?

I want to keep this in mind for the cabin next year. Daisies would be pretty thrown in the mix. White always adds a little sparkle, and what goes better with a cabin than daisies?

Purple Coneflower, Phlox, and Salvia

Sunrise

We were treated to a lovely sunrise! This is the view at 6 a.m. from our deck:

Sunrise from the Deck

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day!

First Weekend

Summer is almost here! For our very first weekend at the cabin, we were greeted with the roadside wildflowers blooming all along the way.

These day lilies aka 'ditch lilies' are everywhere! I know they are very common, but I love them. The Queen Anne's Lace is blooming as well, and is one of my favorites. Coreopsis, phlox, and daisies are blooming, and the Joe Pye Weed is getting tall, and should be blooming toward the end of summer. I noticed a few thermopsis blooming as well, and would love to transplant a few into the yard.

We had our first spend-the-night-weekend at the cabin! It was wonderful to be able to stay, and not drive back and forth. It wasn't perfect (LOL) but we were functional. The first day we were there, we had our first cooked meal in our cabin. Bacon wrapped filets on the grill with sweet potatoes, and asparagus. So yummy! Not exactly how we planned it, but delicious! I had planned to have a microwave to cook the potatoes, but there was a little problem. Lowe's delivered our appliances (washer, dryer, fridge, dishwasher, microwave, stove), and installed everything except hooking up the ice maker to the fridge (they didn't bring an adapter), and the dishwasher and microwave were not installed but left in the boxes on the floor. Major disappointment. For whatever reason, the installers said they didn't do those installations, and we should have had a different team to deliver and install those items. Huge fail on Lowe's part, if you ask me. Who gets appliances delivered and not installed? They should have at least told me so I could have planned. Anyway, it was OK, just not very convenient. We were truly roughing it without ice, a dishwasher and microwave! Ha!

Kitchen with the dishwasher still in the box...

Another view of the kitchen

Furnishing the cabin is quite a task! We have been scouring Craigslist, flea markets, and Goodwill for anything that might be acceptable. We were very blessed to find a listing on Craigslist that had lodge furniture for sale. They had lots of nice things! There was a hunting lodge in Albany, Georgia that unfortunately had gone under financially. All the furniture was being sold from a warehouse in Clarkesville, Georgia. The owner told us that the furniture was all handmade by a man in Albany, and is excellent quality. Major score!! It's perfect for our cabin, and looks as tho it were made just for us. And it was cheap! Happiness.

All told, we came away with a dining room table and 10 chairs, a sideboard, a hutch, a gun cabinet, two double beds, four lamps, and two cypress porch swings.

Here is the hutch with my Blue Willow dishes. I have had these dishes for about 20 years,
and I love them with the pine! 

Dining Room Table and Chairs, Gun Cabinet, and Sideboard.
This dining room used to be the screened porch. The previous owners had it enclosed, but it's not completely finished. You can see that the wood needs to be polyurethaned. It's on my list to do, as soon as the back door threshold is fixed. We have a water leak and there is no point in finishing the floors until it's done.

Basement Bedroom with the two double beds. The table is an old one I've had for years. It will eventually live somewhere else, but for now it works here. The antler lamp is from the Lodge sale as well.

Another view of the Basement Bedroom. The window is off-center, but it will look better with some curtains and
some art to balance things out.

Saturday night was our second and last night. We were both pretty exhausted, and I was not sleeping well. As I was dozing in and out, I kept hearing this noise that I couldn't identify. Finally, I woke up enough to realize that it was worth checking out because it sounded like a MOUSE was scurrying about! EEK. Thank God, I had a flashlight on the night table, and when I would hear the sound, I'd shoot the light over and look for any sign of critters. Nothing. Nada. Never saw anything. Finally, in my super-exhausted state, I realized that it was raining a soft, drizzley rain, and that the tin roof made it sound different than how it sounds at home. Relief beyond words washed over me, but I felt a little silly, too. After identifying the sound, it was nice to listen to the rain and drift off to sleep.

This was our treat the next morning as we were leaving. Our first weekend was a delight in so many ways. We will always remember sitting on the back porch listening to the whippoorwills, watching the lightening bugs, and seeing the stars. Oh, those stars!! With no city lights to compete with them, they are truly spectacular.

View from the Dining Room Window

Next on the agenda is getting some mattresses delivered for the Loft Bedroom and the small main floor bedroom, as well as the threshold repair, and the appliances to be finished up. We also ran into an unexpected problem: MUDDY WATER coming out of the tap. Yuk. Maybe it's from the rain? I have no idea, since I've never had a well. So a plumber is installing a filter for us. Not more sludge!! Woop! Then we should be fully functional to have our kids come up for the weekend without it being too harrowing. With so much going on, there is a lot to supervise, and you have to expect a couple of glitches. Thursday, we are going up to meet the plumber and appliance installers. Should be interesting. I'll keep you posted.

Painted Furniture

Goodwill has some amazing deals! There were 2 solid wood end tables in a chunky, rustic style that were only $15 each, so I snatched them up and stored them in the basement for a few months. When we closed, it was finally time to decide how and where to use them. The command decision is that they are going in the loft bedroom, and will be painted a rich, espresso brown. The 1970's brass pulls will be changed out for faux antler pulls that I bought on ebay. My friend from high school sold me a chest of drawers for just a few dollars. It will also get a minor repair and some fresh paint.

Painting is the easy part. The preparation is the hard part, but VERY important. Here are the steps to a successful paint job: 

1. Make any necessary repairs to the surface of the piece, such as filling any holes or cracks with wood filler, or replacing any missing pieces of trim. Notice that the leg on the left was missing it's decorative trim. My son popped off the right trim, traced in on a new piece of wood, cut it out, and I sanded it and attached it with hot glue and a couple of trim nails.

Chest of Drawers with missing trim replaced.

2. Sand the surface of the wood. You don't have to remove all the finish, but make sure that it's nicely roughed up so that the paint will stick and not peel off.  I used a small palm sander, which makes it a much easier and faster job! And don't forget to wear a mask so that you don't breathe in all that dust!

3. Wipe down the surface with a tack cloth to remove all the dust. You don't want gritty paint!  

4. Paint the piece with a good quality primer. 

5. Lightly sand, and wipe down again. 

6. Paint 2 coats of paint, sanding lightly and wiping down in between coats.  

Drawers to the Chest and End Tables with a fresh coat of paint.

Goodwill End Table freshly painted.

7. If you want to distress the paint, lightly sand the edges of the piece, and wipe down again.

8. At this point, it's your choice if you want to take a q-tip and color the distressed places with your choice of stain. I skipped this step, as my paint was nearly black, and I wanted the contrast with the lighter color wood showing through.

9. Finish with a polyurethane coat to protect the paint.

Chest of Drawers Drawer (LOL) with hand pull.

Especially exciting was the hand pulls on the Chest of Drawers. They are shaped like a canoe, and by a stroke of good luck we have canoes on the bedding. Aren't you excited by this? I know you are!

To-Do List Update

One of my favorite things in life is crossing off a long list of to-do items. It's so gratifying to take a pen and mark through each item that is completed! Not to mention how it inspires me to keep motivated and finish the list. Oh, yeah!

As of Sunday, May 27th, we have owned the cabin for four weeks. It may not seem like a lot to look at the cabin in it's current state, but we have accomplished several important things on our to-do list.

Namely:

• New Driveway Poured
• 2 Toilets Repaired and Working
• Upstairs and Main Floor Cleaned and Ready for Furniture
• Kitchen Cabinets Cleaned and Papered
• Mouse Traps Placed and Holes Plugged
• Ugly Shrubs Removed, New Plants Planted and Mulched
• Trees Cut Down For Improved View
• Windows Washed (Inside)
• Basement Stairs Handrail Stabilized
• Carpenter Bees Sprayed
• Wasp Nests Treated and Removed
• Kitchen Curtains Sewed and Hung
• Comforters, Etc, Bought for Upstairs and Master Bedrooms
• Goodwill Furniture Painted
• Furniture Bought from Craigslist
• Appliances Purchased from Lowe's

Nandina Removed and Angelonia, Verbena, and Lantana Planted!
I researched the plants, and they are not supposed to be attractive to deer.

Hoping this will NOT  be a tasty deer  treat!

The old shrubs were UGLY. Besides, I like flowers. :)

There is still a long list of to-do items, but we are making progress! Here are some items that will be done in the next few weeks:

• Install Electric Outlet for Fridge
• Clean Basement Carpet
• Clean Basement Bathroom 
• Find Out Why Back Door is Leaking and Repair
• Polyurethane Dining Room Ceiling, Walls, and Floor
• Pick Up Furniture from Clarkesville and Move It In
• Meet Lowe's Appliance Installers
• Pressure Wash Driveway (Old Part)
• Pressure Wash Porch
• Buy Towels, Sheets, and Pillows
• Repair Outside Back Faucet
• Find a Way to Get Our Cell Phones To Work!! (Maybe Transfer Service to Verizon)

There you have it, folks! Lots completed, but lots still to go. We have a goal of 2 weeks to be able to spend the night at the cabin for the first time. I think it is doable. Stay tuned.

Closet Repair

For whatever reason, the loft bedroom closet shelves were ripped out of the wall and left hanging by a thread, and the supports bent. There were two shelves and rods that were left, but one was missing. Luckily, Lowe's had the shelving and rods, and even the same kind of supports. So after measuring, I bought the needed supplies (including anchors and screws) and VOILA!

Loft Bedroom Closet ~ Before

Closet completed!!

Loft Bedroom Closet ~ After!

Here's a pic of the wildflowers along the road to the cabin. So purdy.

And here is the road leading to the cabin. Lush and green with all the recent rain, the drive through the forest is magical, as though the fairy folk should be hiding among the trees.

See those ferns growing along the banks? I am hoping to dig some up and plant them in the yard. Gotta love those free, native plants!!

Drive-able Driveway

After! :)

Being able to drive on the driveway is a great advantage!! 

Yay for getting the new driveway in!

Before :(

After!! :)

As of this Friday, May 25th, we will be able to actually DRIVE on the driveway, which means we can get our appliances in. Woot! Happy 30th Anniversary to us! :)

Cabin Decor on a BUDGET

This cabin will be decorated on a tight budget. Really tight. There are so many necessary things that MUST be done to make it livable, that the decor will be done with a truly skimpy budget. Since we had our contract accepted a few months ago, I've been going to flea markets and the local Goodwill to find cheap things to use, but that are good quality. Maybe just a coat of paint will make an old piece look fabulous, and all cabin-y and rustic. There is also a fabric store that sells close-out fabrics at huge discounts. So, I have several projects lined up that need attention. The first on the list is kitchen curtains. The front of the cabin faces the road, so there needs to be a way to have a little privacy when needed. Also, window panels for the the bedroom that faces the sunrise are going to be recycled from our den. Who knows--maybe we will want to sleep past dawn, and want a nicely darkened room in which to do just that.

Goodwill had some fantastic deals a couple of months ago. Two solid wood night stands in a chunky, rustic style will get a coat of dark brown paint, and some new antler door pulls from eBay. I only paid $15 for each of the night stands, and $8 for the pulls. SCORE! There were also two 3-drawer nightstands that were $10 each, so they went home with me, too. They will also be painted, but as of now I don't know what color they will become. Goodwill also had some nice, heavy drinking glasses, a hand mixer, an iron, various cooking utensils, bowls, colanders, and a couple of lamps. Thank you Goodwill, as we are now functional in the kitchen. Minus our appliances and a coffee maker. The Blue Willow dishes that I already have boxed up in the basement will be going to the cabin as well. I've had them so long I got tired of them (about 20 years I think!), so they've been boxed up for a couple of years, just waiting for a new home.

My great-great-grandfather's iron bed will be repaired by our local welder (one of the footboard rungs has popped off), then given a fresh coat of paint as well. Gotta love those free antique pieces! It's been in my basement for several years, so I'm excited to get it out and fix it up! My sister and I went up to Helen, Georgia for a family reunion, and our cousin gave us a tour of our great-grandfather's old store. It's closed but still standing, and full of old family junk. The bed was inside, rusting away. So, being the resourceful girl that I am, I asked for it. Ask and you shall receive!! I went home with it in the back of my mini van, and couldn't be more thrilled to use it in the cabin. I'll hang a picture of my great-great-grandfather over the bed.

Fabric World is my very favorite fabric store. It has affordable (CHEAPO) fabrics, with prices from $1.99 a yard for fabric on the bolt, to remnants for 50 cents! I got lots of different fabrics for pillows, from stripes and plaids to some owl fabric that is just too fun. So happy. *sigh* For $93 I got enough fabric for the kitchen curtains, the loft bedroom, main floor guest room, basement bedroom, and shower curtains for two bathrooms. That includes decorative pillows, but not the comforters or pillow inserts. Still and all, $93 is not much moolah for all that! 

Where is your favorite store for decorating on a budget? Maybe you have a little local flea market that always has great deals on just the right piece, or a sweet little grandmother with an attic full of 'junk' that is an antique lovers dream, and she let's you go 'shopping'. Oh, wait...I'm dreaming...  :)

Stack of remnants for 50 cents to $2 each!

Bolt of 20 yards of fabric for $1.99 a yard

For the main bathroom shower curtain and window treatments.

Mouse War

Did you know mice can squeeze through a hole as small as a dime? Well, I had heard that, but really? Seriously? My dad (God bless him!!) owned a pest control company for about 40 years. He came up to the cabin and showed me where the little devils are coming in. It's the tiniest little bitty crack. He also told me to pack it with steel wool so they can't chew thru it. (Yes, it's now on my list!) But why are they coming in? There has been no food in the cabin for 2 years. One would think that they would go where there is food, but noooo. Maybe it's shelter they want. Too bad for them, because I'm moving IN and they are moving OUT. Trust me, any hole I find is getting packed tight with steel wool. Going on a mouse hunt, I am! This is war.

The neighbors have already warned us that in cool weather the mice will get into the engine of your car, and chew up the wiring. We have been told to buy some rodent repellant and keep it in the car, or risk having to have it re-wired. Destructive little critters, aren't they? The mice. Not the neighbors.

The same neighbors told us that there have been several bear sightings around our street, and once a bear was even seen going down our driveway. We live in the wilderness. You have to expect these things. But I'd rather see a bear than a mouse. I reserve the right to edit this post if I ever actually see a bear, and change my mind.

There are deer, too. Lots of them. Every time we have been to the cabin there have been deer tracks all over the front yard. Deer are so beautiful. I saw a whole herd of them in a pasture last week about 2 miles from the cabin. My hubby hunts them, and loves a good venison steak. We will have some deer heads on the walls, too. Yes, we are rednecks. If I catch another mouse in the traps, I should have it mounted and put it up on the mantle with my hubby's deer heads. Maybe it would help scare all the other mice away. I would consider that a trophy as much as my hubby's deer.

Productive Day. Sort Of...

View from my kitchen window this morning!

This morning was just gorgeous!!

Perfect day for a trip to the mountains, and to get some work done.

New gravel on our road!!

Today was only a semi-productive day. I left this morning to go to the cabin, and  tackled a couple of projects. First, I had to rid the cabin of a dead mouse! Ew, so gross. After taking it out, I had to scrub the bathroom floor, light a scented candle, and open the windows. That took a while. As I was working, I heard a huge crash, and a beautiful glass pitcher had tumbled out of a big box that was on the kitchen counter, so I had to clean up all the broken glass. Moving on! Next,  I hung the shelves in the closet. Well, I hung 2 of them. I didn't have enough of the the right size anchors, or screws to attach the third shelf. So next time I'll take the correct ones and complete that project. One more shelf to go!

I also did some unpacking, and organizing in the kitchen.

Carpenter bees are making holes all in the wood of the deck and porch, so they got a good dousing with spray. Ditto the wasp nests and hornets nests that are in every corner of the deck!

To Do List

Driveway

We have a MAJOR to do list. 

For one thing, we can't drive on the driveway, or it may swallow our car! This photo was taken back in August. The sink hole has gotten much deeper. Driveway guy is supposed to start this week, and hopefully have it fixed soon.

Next thing on the list: Gutter is overflowing and spilling water onto the deck, which is splashing up under the threshold and getting into the house. Gotta fix that. Pronto. Water problems can quickly cause $$$ damage!

Back Door

This one has been done. Yay!!! All the kitchen cupboards scrubbed inside and out, and pretty red checked paper put inside. THANK YOU to my daughter in law and my mom for helping to get this project completed! We need more prep space, and more storage in the kitchen, so we want to add an island.

Kitchen and Family Room

Master Suite needs finishing. There is space for a nice size bedroom, bathroom, and walk in closet. Wish list for this suite: All wood finishes that match the rest of the cabin in the bedroom part, and if the budget allows a window seat with built-in bookcases. In the bathroom: tile floor (wood in the bathroom is not a good idea), double sinks, shower with no tile or grout (who wants to scrub grout? Not me!), a claw foot tub (oh la la!!), a linen closet, toilet, and of course the closet with wire shelves. We will have to see what the budget allows, but the claw foot tub may have to go. You can't really see from this pic, but the corner windows are some type of textured glass. Not crazy about it, and we may change it.

Master Bedroom, Bath, and Closet

This is an easy one. The built in ironing board cupboard has not been polyurethaned. No problem to slap some on!

Laundry Room

Just look at this view! This is from the loft. Don already took some of these trees down, and they will be getting cut up for firewood. I've got plans for some of the logs: cut some for a base for a birdbath, and some end tables. Love me some FREE stuff!! Also, this view is from the window in the loft. We want to add a window seat to maximize the enjoyment. I can imagine sitting here all curled up with a cup of tea and a good book.

View from the Loft

This is the walk in closet upstairs in the loft bedroom. Those shelves will need to be rehung with some heavy duty anchors! I already bought them, and this is my next project.

Upstairs Bedroom Closet

The downstairs (basement) bedroom used to have a window that now looks into the unfinished part of the basement. The wall needs to be properly finished.

Basement Bedroom

This is the back of the cabin. Can you imagine a mountain cabin with no deck to enjoy the view??? Deck will be added, and I'm already dreaming of mornings with my coffee, watching the deer...

Back of the Cabin

For some strange reason, there is no electric outlet in the utility closet. So an extension cord goes out into the basement bedroom, resulting in not being able to close the door. My dad has graciously offered to add an outlet! So thankful that he knows how to do so many things!

Basement Bedroom

The outlet for cable (or satellite) is on the short wall to the right of the fireplace. I think it should be moved. My hubby does not. We are in negotiations.

Fireplace in the Family Room

The one last project: Furnishing the whole place. I have been buying some things at Goodwill and Flea Markets that need painting, and a friend from high school sold us a leather sofa, chest of drawers, and 3 TVs for $300. Gotta love a deal like that! But there is still the the table and chairs, beds, basement living area, and all the sheets, towels, and bed linens. Not to mention dishes, glasses, small kitchen appliances, rugs, trash cans, we need it ALL!

So there you have it. All the major projects that need attention. I haven't mentioned all that has already been done: Scrubbing all the floors, scraping off the gooey stickers that were applied to the door by the foreclosure company, scrubbing the bathrooms, bringing up boxes of cabin things that were stored in our guest room, getting a plumber out to fix the well,  etc. etc. etc.

Change of Plans

It's raining! That's a good thing, since we are in a drought here in the South. And this little wren is so happy that it has burst into song. :) 

 The driveway guy is working on the road at the cabin, so there is no point in going up today. The road is blocked. So I'm home, and didn't plan on being here. Gotta love a rainy day at home, and getting things done while hearing the rain and the birds singing! I stepped outside for a few seconds to snap a few pics of my garden:

Spiderwort and Stellas in my yard:

Another view:

Ferns, Hosta, and Heuchera in a pot on the deck: